9.8.2026 - Rick DeBruyne
Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Our scripture for today is Genesis 17:7, where God makes this promise to Abraham, “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.”
We are thinking this week about baptism.
Baptism is a sign and seal of God’s dedication to us as revealed in his promises. In Scripture, from Genesis through Revelation God makes a series of covenants or promises that build on one another and progressively reveal his love and purpose for his people. In Genesis 17 God makes this profound promise to Abraham. He says to Abraham that he will establish his covenant to be God not only to Abraham, but to Abraham’s children, and his grandchildren, his great grandchildren, and their children throughout the generations into the future. God says this covenant is an everlasting covenant.
One of the things that I am amazed about in this promise is that God takes the initiative. He doesn’t say to Abraham, “Let’s make a deal.” Instead, out of his love and grace, through no obligation except that which he takes on himself, he dedicates himself to be Abraham’s God and God to all the generations that follow. Throughout the Old Testament this is regarded as a promise to a single lineage, a blood-line. But in Christ, in the New Covenant, this no longer follows a single blood line but is extended to all who believe. Imagine, the living God who created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them makes a promise to Abraham, and to us that he will be God.
I also love that is that this is a generational promise. God doesn’t just dedicate himself to Abraham but to Abraham’s children, his grandchildren, his great-grandchildren, his great-great grandchildren, and all the generations that follow. And it is absolutely amazing that God has included us in this promise. Paul tells us that in Christ, the children of Abraham are not just those in the blood line, but all who believe.
And it is amazing that God makes his promise an “everlasting” promise. That means that God is not going to break his promise. Think about it this way. We say that there is nothing that God cannot do. But that’s not entirely accurate. One of the things that God cannot do is break his promise. What he says he will do. What he speaks will come to pass. What he establishes cannot be taken back. In theology we have a fancy word for that. It’s immutability. That just means not able to mutate, not being able to change. God and God’s promises cannot change.
In the Old Testament God gave his people the act of circumcision as a visual cue, a sign and seal of his promise. In the New Testament baptism becomes that visual cue, the sign and seal of God’s promise to the entire believing community. Every time we baptize someone in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit we see a visual sign and seal of God’s dedication of himself to be our God and the God of our generations.
As Gladys and I are now not just parents and grandparents, but great-grandparents, God’s generational promise gives us increasing comfort and hope. As we are living in the later season of our lives, we can know that, God has dedicated himself not just to us but to our entire family line, that he has promised that he will not only be our God, but God to the generations that follow. We rely on that and cling to that. It gives us hope. It gives us security. As we know our years are limited, God’s promises are everlasting.
I invite you today to reflect on your baptism and revel in God’s promise to be our God, to be awestruck that God has taken the initiative simply out of his grace and mercy, that this is a generational promise not just to us but to our children and their children and all the generations to follow, and that it’s an everlasting promise that cannot fail.
"The Lord bless you and keep you"
"The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you"
"The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace"
Amen